Cliffhangers and Cocktails

Episode 22: In case of emergency, brandish fork - and enjoy an interview with JENNIFER L. HART!

• Season 2 • Episode 35

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Today's episode calls for an electric lemonade! Join Shéa and Amy as they talk about Aries season, Jennifer L. Hart's upcoming release "Queen of the Midlife Mystics," manifestation, cocktails, and general shenanigans.

Affirmation:

I am fearless in pursuit of what brings me joy and sets my soul on fire.

Resources:

Shea's Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sheamacleod/lady-rample-steps-out-special-edition-cozy-mystery-hardback

The Rooted Woman Oracle Deck by Sharon Blackie: https://sharonblackie.net/rooted-woman-oracle/

The Trope Thesaurus by Jennifer Hilt: https://www.amazon.com/Trope-Thesaurus/dp/B0BFYR9L4Z/

https://www.instagram.com/namastemagical

Jennifer Hart:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author.jennifer.l.hart/

Queen of the midlife mystic - out on March 27

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/cw/jenniferlhart

Substack: https://authorjenniferlhart.substack.com/

Shop: https://jennifer-l-hart-shop.fourthwall.com/

Website: https://www.authorjenniferlhart.com/


Electric Lemonade (Energy: Cleansing and releasing negative emotions, lifting spirit, attracting luck and connection, joy and creativity)

Ingredients:

  • 40 mL (1 1/4 oz.) Vodka
  • 15 mL (1/2 oz.) Blue Curacao
  • 60 mL (2 oz.) sour mix*
  • 7-up or other lemon-lime soda

Garnish: Lemon slice 

Directions:

Add sour mix, vodka, and curacao to a tall glass and stir. Fill with ice and top off with soda. Garnish with a slice of lemon.


*Homemade Sour Mix:

Mix ½ cup sugar and ½ cup hot water together until sugar dissolves. Let cool then add ½ lemon juice and ¼ cup of lime juice (adjust for tartness by adding or reducing the lemon) and stir. 



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Thanks - the Caftan Coven

SPEAKER_01

Welcome to Cliffhangers and Cocktails Podcast with Amy Sissel, that's me, and my delightful co-host, Shaya McCloud. That's me. We are USA Today best-selling authors of paranormal women's fiction, among other things. And this podcast is brought to you as always by the Caftan Coven.

SPEAKER_00

Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

unknown

Hey!

SPEAKER_00

Well, today we are going to be talking with author Jennifer L. Hart about her new book, Queen of the Midlife Mystics. And we'll also be talking about, you know, the usual witchy things and general shenanigans. So welcome to the podcast. I love a good shenanigan.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, welcome.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome. And then we shenan again. So today's affirmation: I am fearless in pursuit of what brings me joy and sets my soul on fire. Woo-hoo! Right? I love it too. Because I think fear has stopped a lot of people from pursuing what they really want in life. I know it didn't.

SPEAKER_01

100%. It's so scary to make big changes. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

It didn't mean for a long time.

SPEAKER_01

I was on threads um earlier today, and somebody had said, Women over 40, what radical change did you make in your life after you turned 40 that brought joy? She's like, I don't mean like, oh, I learned to go get professional pedicures or whatever. She's like, I want radical. What is something radical? One of them was um, I uh got sober and started running long distances, and I quit my soul sucking day job and moved to Portugal to be full-time Arthur. Uh and it was just it was so inspirational reading through that post and thinking about how much fear you have to overcome to make those radical changes and how and how much joy there is potential with that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Most of my radical changes, I think, were made in my 30s, but I'm planning another radical change.

SPEAKER_01

So I'm excited. I I don't know what she's talking about, y'all. Oh, I'm so excited to find out what this is.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, you totally know what this is.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I do. Oh, okay. It's the moving deportage thing.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, not a surprise. Oh. Yeah. I'm actually in my 50s now, so I'm gonna be, I mean, moving abroad. A lot of people don't do that once they hit, they're like, oh, I'm gonna do it while I'm young. No, man. Move when you're awesome. Move when you're awesome. And actually they taught us say that doing that, like moving abroad, like especially a place where you the your native language is not the same as their native language, or perhaps I should say primary language is a more accurate descriptor. The that that actually keeps your brain like growing and elastic and helps prevent dementia. So I'm like, I'm all for that. Let's keep our brains all nice and bouncy bouncy.

SPEAKER_01

I don't like that motion that you made when you did that. I did not make the bouncy bouncy brain motion that you made. I don't know about you, but that's not where I keep my brains.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, I just realized what I did. And I'm like, oh, that's a different hog. That is not the brain. Okay, I was just watching Heated Rivalry last night, so maybe that's got me in some weird brain space. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01

Perhaps. It's a little, it's a little steamy. Yeah. I've heard. Yeah. You're not gonna watch it. Not because I'm anti-steam. Just not gonna. Oh, well, I love steam. I used to lie and say, oh, I'll put that on my list and get right to it. I'm not. I am honestly, I'm not gonna watch anything anyone recommends to me, probably. I don't care. I'm not interested in anything, y'all. Zero interests. No. Zero interests. No, I mean, I will read a book. You recommend a book for me, I will read it.

SPEAKER_00

Well, it started out as a book, so you could read the books. I haven't read the books. I haven't read the books, to be fair. But I'm going to. They're on my list.

SPEAKER_01

If somebody, if somebody uh comes in to the comments and says, Amy, I am recommending that you read blah blah blah, I will read it and I will talk about it. So be very careful what you recommend.

SPEAKER_00

Oh dear.

SPEAKER_01

Because if it sucks, I will not be shy. See, she might be.

SPEAKER_00

I don't like to like she's she's hit she's hit a woman of a certain age, and she is all out of forks. Yes. The last fork has been forks. I've got the one stabbing fork left. Well, it's always good to have a stabbing fork, you know, just in case. So why don't you tell us about our topic of the day? Oh, wait, it's not about stabbing. I mean, you could interpret it that way, I suppose.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Well, um, so no stabbing, no stabbing today. Um, but we're gonna talk about Aries season, because we are right here just just swung into it. Yep. Um just right now, and I have to tell you that Aries season is a very special season in this household. Oh, you have a couple spawn. Yes, my delightful spawn is an Aries. Yes. Um and wow, yeah. Also, the third member of our coven is an Aries.

SPEAKER_00

That's right. And I have an Aries rising, so Aries season does hit me differently than an Aries star sign, but it hits.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, it does. No, very, very hitty. Like it is it is very mean?

SPEAKER_00

It is stabby. Oh, no way. That's just my daughter. So stabby. So you do need the stabbing fork after all. It's a defense. Defensive.

SPEAKER_01

No, she's a delight and a half, but she is an Aries.

SPEAKER_00

She very much is an Aries.

SPEAKER_01

All right, so Aries season. Yes, Aries energy. Um so, and that's Shay's rising sign, which is her first impressions, her persona. Yeah, she's got a lot, she's gonna be feeling all this Aries energy all up in the middle.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's gonna be all up in there.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, this is Aries is a fire sign, right? Like it's hot and it goes hard and it's bold and assertive. Dynamic. Yeah. Um, it is dynamic, it's charismatic, I think. It's that fiery energy that's like draws you in, but it's also I don't want to say unstable because that's not what I mean, but like it's just there's so much passion and heat there that it's not like that same calm, um, like earth energy that you get from an earth sign. Are you an earth sign or an air sign?

SPEAKER_00

No, I'm an air sign. So that's an interesting combo. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Ur yeah, I uh air and fire are like, yeah. And then I have a Leo moon, which is also fire. So I'm all fire and air.

SPEAKER_01

Hot air. I don't know what Taurus and Sagittarius are.

SPEAKER_00

Taurus is um Earth, and I think Sagittarius. Oh, I have a list somewhere. Oh, good. This is so good. Sagittarius is fire.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so I'm Earth, water, fire.

SPEAKER_00

You are all the things almost. Yeah. I am. I think that's where like even though I'm an Aquarius, like, and and definitely that, it's but people when they meet me often say, Well, you don't act like an Aquarius. And that's because the because Aries is in my what's my f it's what gives me the first impressions, basically.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's the first house, isn't it? My rising sign. I think so. Um I would like to I know this for sure. 100% because I spent a lot of yesterday um editing an episode where we talked a lot about the houses. Oh, so I have fresh memories.

SPEAKER_00

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01

Whereas my memories are going, okay, I talked about this with that three weeks ago for you, and one day ago for me.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And so it's all my it's what I put out into it's what I show the world. It's what I put out, it's people's first impressions. So they see me that way, and it's not that I'm not that way because I it's it's part of me. But like, yeah, I definitely have that sort of like non-Aquarian energy when you first meet me, I think.

SPEAKER_01

That's my thing. Well, so this season, and this is gonna hit you extra hard because it's your rising sign, but this is a great time to like do some initiative stuff to wait be fearless in the pursuit of what might bring you joy. Oh, yeah. Like, do that kind of stuff, set your soul on fire with that Aries energy. So, like, I don't know, it's a great time to launch a project. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00

Got any ideas on that one? Well, I happen to have a Kickstarter that is probably gonna be wrapping up about this time. So actually, I'm launching it technically in in Pisces season.

SPEAKER_01

Uh Pisces is pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_00

Pisces Pisces is pretty awesome. So it'll be wrapping up in Aries season. We're recording this actually in Pisces season, and I'm already feeling the Aries energy coming. Like I can already feel it. It's hitting my act. I know, I it's hitting my activator hard. I want to do all the things. I'm having so many ideas about projects. Linda and I, that's my co-author for my magical realism women's fiction series. Uh, I have a great idea to for like a a books, uh box set and some marketing we can do. We're going a very different direction with our covers so that we can reach uh you know a slightly different market with that. I'm thinking about all of these other Kickstarters and projects I want to do and like I mean, yeah, it's like my activator is in high gear. It's going, come on, shiny, shiny, shiny. Activator ADHD. No, I I I have um I've been tested. I don't have ADHD, surprisingly. Although I do with perimetopause, I definitely have symptoms that react like ADHD. But I think I think that's pretty common. Yeah, it's very common. I do have that activator that loves the shiny and likes to jump on all kinds of new projects, but I also have that the other strengths that sort of bring me back and make me actually finish what I'm working on first. Like, no, dude. Oh, what's that? What finishing? You know how it feels to finish. You just finished a book.

SPEAKER_01

Or did just finish a book.

SPEAKER_00

That must feel amazing.

SPEAKER_01

Like and then I like immediately stopped looking at my email in case like my editors were like, you suck. I don't want to know yet.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, I know you and I know you don't suck. So I just gave her the raspberry in case you didn't know what that sound was. I wasn't sure.

SPEAKER_01

Wasn't sure. Um, but yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00

Mm-hmm. Yeah, that was the raspberry. That's how that's how I like encourage my friends when they say mean things about themselves, I give them the raspberry.

SPEAKER_01

That's fair.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, because I could say, hey girl, you're awesome. All I want, and you won't listen to me, but I give you if I give you the raspberry, maybe you'll go, okay, I'm being a little dumb.

SPEAKER_02

Maybe.

SPEAKER_00

Or maybe not.

SPEAKER_01

Well, the uh the other thing about now, um the now now, but then now. I feel like we're in space balls. You gave me the raspberry, and now it's the then now. It's the now. Um, but is this is the resetting of the astrological year as well. Pisces is the last um of the 12 signs in the year, best for last, obviously. And then we reset with Aries um to go into the new astrological new year. So that also happens right now. And it happens with the um equinox.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And we're re-emerging after winter, so fresh. It's very starting new staff. Yeah. And it's it's very action-y too. Like, it's a it, you know, being a fire sign, they they are very action-y. But um, it's ruled by Mars. So Aries is like passionate, courageous, sometimes a little bit, they have a bit of an aggressive urge to kind of charge forward. And like, yeah, that's not me at all. Um, yeah, I do have that tendency uh sometimes. But um, but this particular Aries season of 2026 is a major, major transformative period. And if if you have been like on Instagram or like whatever, um more and more people are talking about this, and more and more women are fighting their inner witch and they're they're yes.

SPEAKER_01

Fighting or finding?

SPEAKER_00

Finding, finding their inner witch. No, no, no. They're opening to it, they're realizing their power. Yeah, finding. They're finding their inner witch, they're finding their power, they're realizing, you know, who they are, and so this um this period, which is marked by Saturn and Neptune entering Aries, um, it demands maturity, structure, and a new authentic identity. So it's time for like bold, decisive action and focusing on long-term goals rather than impulsive short-term goals, which is where the shiny. So it's hitting us, you know. Aries is like shiny, shiny, shiny, shiny, fun, fun, fun, you know. But we also need to like rein that in a little bit and go, yeah, this is a great new creative idea, and it's a great time to launch this idea. But isn't it I is this a long-term thing, and you really want to invest in those things right now. So, um, I found a list of how this kind of affects the different signs this season. So the fire signs, which are Aries, Leo, and Sag, are gonna feel empowered, confident, and motivated to pursue like leadership, passion projects, and creative expansion. Earth signs like Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, they're gonna experience a push to sort of break free from long-term restrictive cycles and embrace change. Um, with Capricorn, especially is gonna feel some shift in the energy, in this energy. And then the air signs, here we go, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius, focus on redefining relationships, communication, and independence. Good old independent Aquarius there. And then the water signs, Cancer, Scorpio, and Le Pisces. Uh focus on I like how I got a lay uh of course. It must be fancy, le Pisces. Uh focus on deep personal transformation with cancer experiencing a glow-up in travel and growth, and Scorpio urge to find balance. So that's just a brief overview of how my mom and my sister are both cancers.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, interesting. I'm interested to see how their glow up goes.

SPEAKER_00

How their glow-up goes. Yeah, yeah. So um I just thought it was really what's really cool about this also is um we're entering the lunar year of the fire horse. We're actually in that now.

SPEAKER_01

We're in that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

We're in that. And I mean, this has been a nutty year already. We all know we've lived through it. We sort of entered this this new direction that we were entering, sort of took root on February 17th when the solar new moon eclipse kind of happened. I feel like this is kind of the click kickoff of like the real age of Aquarius we're gonna see. Um this so then this eclipse sort of uh ushered in the the f the year of the fire horse, which is uh a so a symbol of uh rebellion, of independence. And the last time this happened, it was 1966. And if you know anything about history, you know that this was a peak year for the civil rights movement here in the United States. Uh, it was a peak year for counterculture and for the arts. And throughout the world, all kinds of other like uprisings and rebellions were happening in against like dogmatic leaderships. I mean, it was a chaotic year, but a year that issued in a lot of positive change. That same force is back, and it is telling us we need to live boldly and break free from anything that reigns us in. I mean, it is this is a powerful time of year. So the 20th of February came in with another epo they call it an epochal reset. So for the first time in more than 2,000 years, um Saturn and Neptune united, unite at Aries, uh, I guess they call it zero degrees, but they're basically both in the in Aries right now. And the very first degree of the zodiac, uh, this conjunction, you got Saturn that's on the rules the material plane, and Neptune that governs the esoteric realm. So it is urging us, and and I don't know if you're feeling it, but I've been feeling it, especially you know, in all of these with all these people that I follow on Instagram and things like that, that that more and more we are wanting to build st build structures like we want to build and we want to tear down. So we're basically want to burn down the patriarchy and we want to rise of the matriarchy, which I support this message exactly and so many people like especially many male people are afraid they think matriarchy is just patriarchy reversed, and that's not it at all. They don't want to be treated the way the way they treat us and others, and people who are not just like them, yes. Yeah, but weird, weird. It's saying it's not good. You know, you'd think you'd think that they might realize that, uh, but apparently not. Uh but this this sort of meetup of Saturn and Neptune is gonna inspire people to fight for institutions and leaders that are uh accountable, compassionate, you know? And in astrology, Saturn represents structure, rules, and authority, and Neptune embodies imagination and ideals. And when they come together, we're likely to see the start of a longer movement to create systems and laws that are inclusive, inclusive, and guided by heart as well as logic. And that's what the matriarchy represents. Everybody we we don't just have a table and people can sit around and gather the crumbs that spill over. When more people come to the table, we don't say there's no room for you. We build a bigger table. That's right, Cher Horowitz. And yeah, I mean, you know, okay, sorry.

SPEAKER_01

I knew what was up.

SPEAKER_00

She did know what was up all those years ago, Cher was right. So yeah, I kind of went way down the rabbit hole on that one, and I got really excited about because I mean I've been fired up by all these witches talking about the matriarchy, and like I love there's this one I'm gonna have to find her and put her in the comments because I think you love her. She's from the south, and she has this real strong southern accent, and she just will she sits there and she stares at the camera and she just tells you what's up. And she has got no oh yeah, she's got no time for these, you know, nonsense people in power. Anyway, we don't want to go down that rabbit hole, but I love it because she just tells it like it's real, y'all.

SPEAKER_01

So we do have some rituals for every season that you can do.

SPEAKER_00

Let's talk about those rituals.

SPEAKER_01

Let's do it. Um, there's way you can ignite your passion and goals by, and we've talked about vision boards before. Oh, yeah. But um, and there's always a great time to be a new year. Like new year isn't January 1st. New Year is whenever you decide. Whatever. It's a new astrological year. Yeah. I just had my new birth year. Yeah. Um, there's the lunar new year that happened in February. The pagan new year that I celebrate is a Salin. So whenever you need to do your new year, new you, you can do it every day. I don't care. Um, you do you, boo. Um, but create your vision border to do list focused on your passions and your personal goals. Remember, you're lighting that fire of joy. Dedicate a day to unapologetically being yourself. Dress in bold colors like red or whatever feels bold to you and take up space. And then light red, orange, or yellow candles to represent that fire element, boosting confidence and willpower. Cause as Shaya wrote in the notes, will power.

SPEAKER_00

And you can also do an energy release because you're probably gonna feel a lot of like when I I I call it fizzy. Like I feel fizzy underneath my skin because there's so much energy that I can like literally feel it vibrating. So um I uh a lot a lot of people might feel that during this time. So you you can channel that energy and release any pent-up frustrations. I mean, this is a good thing to do all year round, but especially in this season, is you know, take a brisk walk, do some fast yoga, or if it's your jam, do like an intense workout or like a run and sort of get out that extra energy and channel it into something. Or, you know, if you're not into that, you know, maybe you bake or build a house. I don't know. But just channel that energy so it doesn't explode out of your. Totally, whatever is your jam. But like, but basically, instead of fighting it and trying to stuff it down and and focus, get it out, you know, uh basically. And then start your day like with some inner some energizing breath practices, like I like that ha breathing. Like I'm not gonna do it on here. Yeah, something, yeah, something like that. Yes, to activate or dragon breath, lion's breath, those are all good ones.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, those are all good ones. You can just Google them, find a YouTube video if you don't know what I'm talking about, but those are all like pranayama breath practices. That's one of the arms of yoga.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, and it can really just sort of energize you, activate your inner fire, and get you started on the day. And then also get outside and connect with the renewed energy of spring. And this is, I mean, you can do this while you're taking your brisk walk or building your house, you know. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, real grass. Hug a tree. I love hugging a tree. I love hugging a tree. So, you know, or just you know, take a walk through your neighborhood, notice like what's blossoming right now.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It's a great time for obviously for spring cleaning, and that's not just like dusting the dust bunnies out from underneath your bed, although that is nice. Cleaning your space and like letting that fresh spring air in. It's and this is all, of course, northern hemisphere um specific because y'all have to do your fall cleaning down there down south. But um, cleaning your space to remove that stagnant energy to make room for the fresh beginnings that are possible with spring. Um, you can list your anger triggers and pent-up emotions, and then kind of identify one small actionable step to change that situation. Uh, you look for what's what is triggering your anger reactions and like how what is one small thing I can do to mitigate that a little bit.

SPEAKER_00

And I do not recommend I don't recommend using your stabby fork, though.

SPEAKER_01

No, no. Um a small actionable step that does not involve the stabby fork.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, because we do not want anyone ending up in prison.

SPEAKER_01

No stabby stabs.

SPEAKER_00

No stabby stabs.

SPEAKER_01

No stabby stabs. Um, and then you can make a list of things you're ready to let go of and burn that list. Um, whether literally let it on fire, or if that's not safe due to your living situation, like whatever. There's other ways that you can you can bury it in the ground, you can flush it down the toilet, yeah. Um, whatever, however, you need to like symbolize that it's going away from you. Um, but I like to do that this time of year. I do it usually for Imult Um as I think is a great time to do that. Um, but again, there's never a bad time to let go of the of stuff that's no longer serving you. You can't be like, oh shoot. It's not I have to hold on to this till February 2nd.

SPEAKER_00

No, you do not have to do that. Um, and then of course there's intention setting, which again, this is something you can do year-round, but this is especially good right now. Uh-huh. But you can literally or metaphorically plant seeds, like, you know, herbs or flowers to represent new projects. So, like, I have this new Kickstarter coming up. I could literally plant a seed and nurture that seed as I nurture my project. So that's something I could do if I really wanted to. But we all know that I am not the one with a green thumb in this relationship. You can I'll plant you a seed. Okay, thanks. Um, but you can also metaphorically plant seeds, also, you know, if you're just not able to physically plant seeds. You can also use crystals like carnelian for courage, citrine for abundance, or red jasper for grounding, basically the warm tone gemstones, like, you know, yellows, reds, um, oranges. And then uh reflect on what uh dreams you're ready to pursue. And not just like, of course, small dreams. Small dreams are but this is specifically a time of of of the season that it's for bold, passionate dreams. Like your big your big, hairy, audacious goal to stop holding your back uh yourself back and to pursue the like really pursue those goals. So this is a great time for that. Like if you know your maybe your big hairy audacious goal is to quit your day job and write full time. Set that shit in Oops sorry, set that stuff in motion, please.

SPEAKER_01

Um I can tell you that as at the time of airing, it has been almost exactly one year since I handed in my resignation to quit my day job so I could move to Portugal and write full time.

SPEAKER_00

So don't let fear hold you back. Aries season is all about letting go of fear, burning that fear to the ground and pursuing those hairy, audacious goals, whatever they may be, moving to another country or writing uh uh seven epic fantasy novels, or writing one, or one novel. Or just or whatever. Finishing a sort short story you started 20 years ago. Whatever. It doesn't have to be big, but to you it has to be big, if that makes sense. Yeah. We've got actually a really, really good potion libation for this. This is Jennifer's favorite, our guest, Jennifer's favorite drink. And so what have we got here, Amy?

SPEAKER_01

Well, we are drinking electric lemonade, which does sound very counter-culture, right? Like I feel like electric Kool-Aid.

SPEAKER_00

I feel like I need a tie-dye t-shirt or calf tannis, the as it may be, and to be ever so slightly high. You are a little tie-dyed, yeah. That is, yes, that's definitely some tie-dye going on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So so yeah, this is an electric lemonade, and you'll see when um Jennifer comes on camera with us that hers is electric blue. Yes, and it is fantabulous. Um, the energy around this is cleansing, releasing negative emotions, lifting spirit, attracting luck and connection, and then that joy and creativity. So this is um, and the the um this will be in the show notes, obviously, but we got your vodka, one and a quarter ounces of that. We've got a half ounce of blue carousel, um, and I'll have the milliliter um milliliters in the show notes as well for our non-US measurement people, people who don't use freedom units, as my daughter will sometimes say. Um, two ounces of sour mix, and we have a recipe for our home for homemade sour mix here. Super easy. Um, and then seven up or some other lemon lime soda, ice, and a lemon slice. So you just mix all the wet ingredients into a tall glass, stir, add ice, top off with the soda. And then if you don't have blue carousel, you can have lavender carousel, which is what I have. I made my own carousel and my own sour. And then I used blue um butterfly pea flowers for the color, but I didn't add enough um baking soda to offset the reaction that it has when it hits the citrus. So mine's more lavender than it is blue.

SPEAKER_00

And then mine is just yellow, like a lemon, because which is actually fine for this season. But basically, uh I didn't have blue curacao, and I haven't had a chance to get to the to the um, I was gonna say the library, but that is the wrong place to get blue curacao. Do not go to the library and ask for blue curaceo. That uh they might find a book about it for you. I don't know. But but the the the liquor store. And uh basically I discovered that all blue curacao is it's basically orange liqueur with blue dye added. That's it. So in the cheaper versions, in the cheaper versions, for sure.

SPEAKER_01

The ones that you're gonna find on most most grocery store shelves, it really is just a basic orange liqueur and blue food dye. Um, the original had used a specific kind of orange, the parasite orange, which is a much more bitter rind. And um and then the higher end ones will use spirulina, um, which is a algae.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, it's an algae, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

That it's a blue-green algae and is often used as a coloring agent for things that are blue. And I was gonna get some spirulina, but the only place I found it when I was looking was at the mushroom stand at the farmer's market. And I can't buy stuff from a place that sells mushrooms.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, just because you are so allergic to mushrooms. We do not want you to do that. No.

SPEAKER_01

And I'm like, I don't, and plus the one, um the like there was this teeny tiny little um packet. I didn't even see how many grams it was. It was 58 euro for this teeny tiny packet of like the best spirulina.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01

The other ones were cheaper, but like you. I don't want your expensive mushroom algae.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's not worth the risk. Uh-uh.

SPEAKER_01

But that's what the higher end ones tend to use is spirulina. Right. Without mushrooms. Right. Um, and so I didn't get the spirulina, so I tried with a pea flour, and then the only problem with that is when it hits citrus, it does turn lavender, unless you are able to offset it correctly, and I didn't make it. We didn't make it work, guys.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, but still it's really, really pretty. And so there's I mean, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. And if you just want to enjoy the flavor of it without, you know, worrying about the color, you can just use regular orange liqueur if that's what you have on hand. And that's what I did. So well, you can basically just sit back and enjoy this while la while like focusing on your intention for the spell and uh that you're pulling. In the sour mix, we got lemon uh juice, which is purification, cleansing, and protection. Lime juice, which is uh purification and protection uh uh again and clearing negative energy. But it all they also bring love, luck, and foster emotional clarity. And they're often used to boost confidence and break through stagnation. So they're good for also like creative spell, like you could focus on the creativity aspect or whatnot. And then you've got sugar, uh, which is sweetness, luck, attraction, and positivity. And then the orange from the curacao, which is uh or blue blue curacao, that is joy, abundance, creativity, and the vitality of the sun, which is associated with the element of fire, which is all Aries there, baby, and the sacral chakra. And um this energy stimulates passion, boosts confidence, and aids in manifestation, particularly for love, prosperity, and breaking through creative slumps. Mmm. So if if you've got creative slumps, hit the curse out. Uh and then the color blue, if you happen to be using blue, which neither of us are, but that's okay. Well, you kind of got you you tried. You got there is blue in lavender. So you is tranquility, wisdom, and communication, and also protection. And it's the color is linked to the calming, expansive forces of the sky and the ocean. And it's used in rituals to promote peace, truth, and spiritual insight while aiding in emotional healing and strengthening the throat chakra for effective communication. And it's just fun to drink a really, really bright blue drink. Or lavender. It is. Or lavender. Or lavender. And then the soda pop, as my grandpa used to say. I saw that in the script. I'm like, soda pop? My grandpa always called it soda pop. The rest of us in Oregon, we always called it pop. Soda sounds better.

SPEAKER_01

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I don't know it just doesn't. Soda pop is nice. Soda pop is fun, and it's a little ode to my grandfather. Um, sparkling drinks are used in spell casting and ritual work to inject energy, movement, and enthusiasm into intentions. And the rising bubbles kind of symbolize lifting the mood and driving away negative energy. And they're also just fun and celebratory. So that's the seven up or whatever lemon lime soda you choose to use. Anywho, well, let's go talk to Jennifer and see what she has to say, shall we? Yes, let's do that. Alrighty.

SPEAKER_01

I am super excited to welcome to the pod today Jennifer L. Hart. Welcome. And I'm gonna go ahead and we're gonna start off reading the bio and then we're gonna get into the good stuff. Because we all know what you want, and it's what are we drinking? No, no, but we'll want to learn more. Okay. Um, so life is messy. Whether it's bloodstains or black magic, USA Today best-selling author Jennifer L. Hart is always conjuring trouble. From the suburban trenches of the laundry hag to the small town magic of her paranormal women's fiction, Jennifer L. Hart writes for every woman who has ever had to save the day while laundry was still in the dryer. If you like your heroine snarky, your stakes high, and your humor a little on the dark side, you've come to the right place. Are you looking for high stakes mysteries, sons the lace doilies? Join Maggie in the Misadventures of the Laundry Hag series as she balances motherhood, murder, and the occasional medieval torture device. Sorry. Or help Jackie Parker navigate her messy work-life balance in the volatile and sometimes deadly Miami real estate market in the damaged goods mysteries. Searching for magic with a side of midlife empowerment, dive into the Silver Sisters series, or take a spicy beach trip with the Cougars and Cauldrons books. Grab a cuppa and talk to ghosts in the Pages and Potions bookshop. In every midlife magic series, the hot flashes come with actual fire, and the monsters are no match for a woman who has survived PTA meetings. No matter the genre, expect one thing. A heroine who is tired of the nonsense and ready to get the job done.

unknown

Yes!

SPEAKER_00

That's honestly one of my favorite bios I've ever read. That is one of my Yes, that is the best bio. Oh, I love it.

SPEAKER_01

Tell us about our your favorite cocktail or mocktail. What are we drinking today, Jennifer? Yeah. The electric lemonade.

SPEAKER_00

Ooh, oh, that is so cool.

SPEAKER_01

That isn't as blue because homemade caraso.

SPEAKER_03

Everybody says with the carousel, and I said, you know what? I like making some blue drinks. I like to feel like I'm drinking Windex. It just makes me feel like an edge, you know.

SPEAKER_01

I'll make some adjustments before I make this the next time because I think I can make it blue instead of a beautiful lavender. That is pretty though. It is. It's pretty, but it's not blue. And I wanted blue. Yeah. So I'm gonna work on this. So it will be better when we record the next half of this episode. Yeah. And I'll be like, look, my drink's blue now.

SPEAKER_00

So tell us about your author journey. Like, we talked a little bit before we we started the episode, but like um, like when did you begin writing and publishing and that whole shenanigan and the shenanigans? When did the shenanigans begin? When do the shenanigans begin?

SPEAKER_03

I've been writing for 20 years, you know, like trying to be a professional writer, and I've been an independently published author. It will be 15 years in May. So 15 years, 60 books. So I started in mystery, and I never intended to do cozy mystery because I'm pretty sure cozy was a thing. And you read that little line in my bio about like, you know, Scott's the doilies. And that's because when I write mysteries, I drop F bombs. My characters can get naked, so they're not cozy. And I had what happened was the giant like conglomerate of cozy that came up around me and like swallowed all the mysteries that were not like detective mysteries or you know supernatural mysteries. They were pretty much became cozy. And you know, so I would get people reading this. Isn't a cozy.

SPEAKER_00

No, no, it's not never said it was. I think now at this point in time, there's kind of becoming, I don't want to say a split exactly, but yes, a split of where they're cozy, but they've got spice. Like we just we just interviewed um Stephanie Holmes, who writes they're 100% aren't they oh she's amazing. I love her. I love her. I loved that it was the cozy vibe, but it also was spicy and hotman and romance and sex.

SPEAKER_03

I like writing the small town vibe. I like writing the amateur sleuth. I like all of those elements of it, you know. So that's where I started, and I have four different mystery series that I've done in a couple of years.

SPEAKER_01

You published about 60 books. Yes. And so you do the mystery, the cozy sex mysteries. That's not what we're gonna call them.

SPEAKER_00

There's your new subtitle.

SPEAKER_01

Not cozy mysteries, and then you do paranormal as well. Is that correct? Okay. Um, so what inspired you to do to do the paranormal midlife books?

SPEAKER_03

Like what okay, so so back in um 2020, you know, it's like I was realizing like again about this whole cozy thing, and I just kind of felt like I kept attracting the wrong readers. Yes, I have mysteries. No, I really wasn't delivering the read that they want. And well, I liked the books and the energy I could do, it just kind of kind of felt like I was at a loss, you know, like I needed to pivot. And that was right at the time that the uh you know original 13, you know, came together and did paranormal women's fiction. And one of the authors that has always come up with my mysteries right like next to me all the time on the algorithms was Jana Dailyon. So Janna's doing this. I said, she Janet doesn't do paranormal, but if Janna's doing this, I could sure do this. Janna did one book and laughed at that.

SPEAKER_00

It was it was such a good book, and I wish she'd done this. Yeah. Uh but I remember reading like right about the time I read her book, and then I read your fairy under the fairy hill or whatever. Yes, yes. I like really liked that. I was like, this is so much fun.

SPEAKER_03

Like I saw this come out, and I said, Okay, I said I need to finish. I was like releasing a UF series under a pen name, and I had one more mystery, like, you know, loaded to go. I said, let me finish these. I said, and let me jump right on there. And I think I wrote that book probably in about three weeks, like over the very hand ready for that. I said, This is what I've been doing, and it just kind of made me like a thunderbolt. And I don't know if any I thunderbolts can't hit you, thunder's the noise.

SPEAKER_01

Like thunderbolts is totally a thing people say, though.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I know.

SPEAKER_01

I know.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so it just kind of hit me. This is what I've been doing. I have been learning the craft and trying. Figure out what I want to do just so I could be here at this point in time. I was just turning 40. I was looking for a new pivot. I had had the writing experience and I just kind of ran with it. You know, and when I started with Over the Fairy Hill, I kind of um I was just throwing whatever I wanted in this, you know, situation out there. So Over the Fairy Hill is one of those where it starts with a midlife woman getting fired, and you know, her relationship is through no fault of her own fell apart. She's living with her mother who's a lot. Her parents are in a conventional relationship, they're like together, but not really together, not living together, you know. And um, so but they're both part of her life and her world, and you know, and she just feels like a big failure, you know, like I didn't make it happen for myself. And you know, she had such a promising start because she was this very talented gymnast, and she, you know, her life kind of got derailed because you know, of a car accident. So it started, what if that car accident never happened? What if my life was completely different? So it almost evolved into like a magical, it's a wonderful life kind of what if this other thing happened, you know. So that's where that story kind of came from. And uh then after that, I kind of realized that I made a mistake because what everybody else that was writing paranormal women's fiction was doing, they were giving the protagonist, the main character, powers, like right up. It was about having the abilities, the powers. And my character was just like this gymnast that made a bargain with a Fae and you know, hijas and Sue. Yeah. That I said, I'm like, I love the book, it was a fun book to write, but I kind of realized that this is not gonna have longevity for a series. So after that came the Silver Sisters, where it's like, okay, I said we're starting right off, they're gonna have abilities, they're gonna be witches, they're gonna be figuring out the whole world with that. And you know, I just kind of went from there. But one of the things I touched on early on, and this was like within that first year where you know people was coming up, was um, I somebody had posted somewhere on Facebook that they really wish that there were more characters that had like real like physical illnesses or problems, yeah, you know, that they're dealing with and they had specifically mentioned multiple sclerosis. Well, I grew up with that, you know. My my mother had MS and my grandfather had MS, my aunt had MS. I grew up with it was around me, and yeah, I had kind of like felt like that was almost like a call. So I did introduce one of those characters to have MS. And I went from there from having one character in the series that rotates between the three perspectives to you know the Cougar's and Cauldron series where the main character has MS. And you know, she goes through this entire you know development. So that has kind of become part of my brand is that I do actually tackle some of these like real life, you know, problems that you know, wouldn't it be great if magic can solve it? But what if magic couldn't solve it, but you still had to deal with it? Add magic.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that is awesome.

SPEAKER_01

So that was one of the things that I really appreciate that um when an author um has uh can introduce a character that has a disability and how it's really nice to not have magical cures. Yeah, yes, yes, because it's I mean, we write fantasy, but it's really nice to be able to say we don't need magic to fix everything. Right.

SPEAKER_00

It doesn't always need to be fascinating. It doesn't have to.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and you can still have this full, wonderful life without without and that's the only thing, you know, in in the Silver Sisters series, I started with book two, where you know the the disease was suspected. A lot of the times MS has been a disease of you gotta rule everything out first before diagnosis happens. So it takes a while. You're you go to a lot of doctor's appointments, you're dreading it, you're hoping there's something that's gonna be fixed, all of this stuff. So she isn't diagnosed until the second book, and she gets the diagnosis right in the beginning. And her first thought is, How am I gonna tell my husband? How am I gonna tell my kids? Because it just derailed all their plans for their lives, that this is the way it was going to be, and now it's not. And her whole journey in that book is looking for a magical cure, like, hey, I'm a witch now, I should have a cure for this. So she doesn't have to tell her family that this is what's really going on. Yeah, she doesn't want to disappoint people, and I feel like that's a very natural thing for you know women in their 40s. We get to this point where people rely on us to be a certain way, and then maybe we physically can't, maybe we mentally can't, maybe we emotionally or financially can't be there on that same level, and you hate to disappoint people. Yeah, you absolutely hate it because it's part of yourself, it's who you are. The brain of it is me, right? Right. You show up, I'm always here. But if you can't, yeah, you have to deal with that. You have to, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00

So Queen of the Midlife Mystics is book three of your Pages and Potions series, and it's coming out in March, so it's probably out by the time this uh podcast plays. So can you tell us more about this book and the main character, Emma, who is an amnesiac ghost whisperer? Yes. Oh, please tell me more.

SPEAKER_01

I need to know a lot about this.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, yes, okay.

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely. So this started because I love tropes, right? I have an absolute love of tropes and playing with tropes in unexpected ways. You know, that's how we keep going book after book. People always ask, How do you get your ideas? It's like, no, I think about, well, what if this happened and then let's throw a bunch of tropes at it and see where we end up exactly pages come. So in this particular instance, I had just read it was um The Trophosaurus by Jennifer Hill. One of the things that she pointed out in both Trophosaurus and, you know, like the ones that come after, what were some of her favorite ones to play with? And she almost called them superpower trips. And the two she had mentioned was amnesia and secret baby, right? Those are two babies, right? You see that a lot. You know, amnesia, like if you grew up in the 80s the way I do, you saw all of the uh amnesiacs on you know days of our lives.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my god, days of our lives.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, everybody has amnesia. Exactly, exactly. So it's like it became kind of a joke, but the point that she made was you take something like amnesia and then you add it to you know some some other situation where maybe it's not as funny because oh, instead of it just being like a way to keep this like not never-ending saga going, you can actually like see like okay, like in Severance was an example she used. She said where the characters choose to have amnesia for part of the day and forget who they are. She's like, that's a way to twist that trope and make a difference. So I started thinking about it. I said, Okay, so you got secret baby, you got amnesia. Well, the mother doesn't remember anything, maybe she doesn't remember the baby. Maybe she doesn't remember life. So she starts out in book one walking into this bookstore. It's closed down for the night, small town, North Carolina. She walks into this bookstore and she's bleeding from C section. No idea where the baby is, no idea who she is. All she has is, you know, this literal scar carrying her through. So that is what has been going on through the entire time I've been writing this series. It's like, who is the baby? Where is the baby? What happened to the baby? What happened to her? You know, this whole thing. My goodness. Yeah, so again, I'm like, I tend to go a little darker than a lot. This is why I don't do cozies.

SPEAKER_00

But your books still have just the doily. It's not a doily, but but you still have that vibe, like the small town and the bookstore or whatnot. And I love that this whole popularity rise of cozy fantasy has led to a a broader allowing of what can be done in coziness, you know. Yes. So you can have the spice with the cozy. You know, I know when I messaged you, we were talking about you wanted to share, and you mentioned love that you wanted to talk about. I did. Yes. And like with the manifesting and all that, like, because we talk a lot about manifesting. We talk about manifesting money, and I know you're into the witchy stuff, and I'm so into the witchistic stuff. Oh, yeah, like you even call yourself a word witch. I did.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, let's talk about that. Okay, so the one thing about manifesting, and I don't I've watched that for all your podcasts, and I know you guys talk about this a lot, but one thing I never heard bring up was that when it comes to manifesting and asking the universe to deliver something to you, you gotta be specific. Yes, yes, yes, be specific, right? I don't I don't know that we have talked about that, but yeah, yes, you're right. So the universe is like a dog that has been trained. Oh, the expression on Amy's face was tingle waggly dog. I got one on the other side of the door there. And you tell the dog, go fetch the toy. Well, you don't tell, say which toy. So the dog just like frantically runs around and it comes back with, you know, a rope, or it comes back with a bone. But that's not what you wanted. So it's not the dog's fault you don't get what you want. You have to really drill down and be specific. What do you want? So, you know, then we have like an epidemic of loneliness that goes on a lot of the time, especially people who are aging and you know, stuff like that. So some people might try to manifest what I just I really want some friendships, I want people to come and care about me, you know, and and be part of a group and something like that. But you have to be specific about what you want. Not everybody's looking for a relationship, but some people are. Yeah, so don't be afraid to ask the universe for what you want. You have to be specific. But you want an actual spell that will move your confidence and help you get what you want. Put on some lipstick, whatever your favorite shade is, could be lip gloss, doesn't have to be fancy. Heck, I'm wearing like colored chapstick right now. Kiss a mirror and tell the mirror, bring me the love that I deserve.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03

That's it. That's it. Very simple.

SPEAKER_01

Bloody Mary shows up.

SPEAKER_02

That's a different year.

SPEAKER_01

Be very specific that you don't want that, I guess. No, no. I'm not here to judge, though. Whatever.

SPEAKER_00

That's what you're into. I love um, it's uh what's his name that does Adventures with the Universe, but he always adds or better onto the end. So he gets really specific with what he's asking for, like you said, and but then he'll always add or better. Like I want ten thousand dollars by Friday the 13th of whatever, or better.

SPEAKER_03

Another way to look at it too is that a lot of people, like a lot of people anymore, especially, like we're writers, so we could always use a little bit more, you know, scratch. So it's like people try to manifest money, right? But people sometimes you're hesitant, like you're like, Well, I don't want this to come from like somebody dying and getting money, you know. It's like so a way to kind of tag onto that is like I'd like a thousand dollars free and clear. Yes, yeah, I want I I don't want any any blowback, any karma, repercussions, stuff like that. Yeah, free and clear, free and clear, yeah, or badly, yeah. And I don't be able to get specific, dig down there, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so specificity is a it works and b it's important, and C, be careful, be careful what you asked for. Be when you're when you're being specific.

SPEAKER_01

And I think that's one of the reasons why specificity is important, where you're not leaving it up to some kind of weird, um weird interpretation, because there's so many stories about asking for something and getting exactly what you asked for.

SPEAKER_03

That's like one of the classic stories, the monkey's paw, where it's like, yeah, you're like counting the wishes, and it was giving you the thing, but it was giving you in the worst way. So yeah, it's like yeah, that really is, you know, and be careful what you ask for thing. But you know, I think one of the reasons that um at least I find like manifesting is comforting. A lot of the times you feel very powerless. This world that we're living in, it's full of tech rows and people doing all sorts of crazy things and computers making decisions for us, and yeah you don't you don't feel like you're in charge of anything, you know. It's like, yeah, I am in charge of what I put on the page today. I'm in charge of maybe what I put in my pantry, what I put in my body, how much I exercise, you know. But like after a while, it feels a little bit just like, why? Well, you know, the whole thing is just overwhelming. And so it's it's one of those things, it's like it's a way to take the power back, to take charge, to say, this is what I want, I deserve this, and that's why you know the spell, you know, the words bring me the love that I deserve. Because you know what? All the jokes aside, you know what? You all deserve love, everybody deserves love and acceptance, and that's just it's such a crucial thing that you have to believe it yourself. So saying those words out loud, knowing that you deserve that, that's going to help out put that dog right now on the right track.

SPEAKER_00

And yeah, and I I think also when you're staring in that mirror and saying, Bring me the love I deserve, also tell yourself that you do deserve love. Yeah. Because there's a lot of people who really don't believe that they deserve it, or they're not good enough somehow. And frankly, that's nonsense. Everybody everybody deserves love, and everybody's worthy of love.

SPEAKER_01

So, what are your plans for 2026? Um, we're about a third of the way in when this comes out, um, not quite that far in when we're doing our interview. Um, but what do you got going on this year? What's happening? Tell me everything.

SPEAKER_03

So, yeah, I am I'm getting a lot of self-love dirty now. Whoa. I am um actually reeling back the production schedule a little bit. I only have three books up for pre-order. I don't know if there's going to be more than that. Sometimes I I'll have a little bit more, but I realized after a while, like the pre-orders are actually stressing me out because you start out, oh, I have all this time until this next book, and then next thing you know, it's on top of you, and you're like, I have to critically finish this book. And my nervous system can't take that. You know, I can't take the ups and downs with that anymore. So I'm going to finish the three series that I have going on, which is you know, the pages and potions book three, is you know, kind of the midlife mystics. Um, right after that, I have Hedgewitch Wedding, which is the book four, and my Coven of Crestmot series. So this is like a small town, the coven is in a small southern town, and they're all going through like their own, like, you know, finding relationships kind of cool series. So, like, this is going to be the Hedgewitches. So she's a single mom, and you know, and she's going to be rehabilitating one of my bad boy athletes from the first book. I love it. Rehabilitating.

SPEAKER_00

That's right.

SPEAKER_03

So um, that's that's my next one. And then um the other one that I have out is the final book. Final, final, final answer. I'm not bringing this one back, no matter how much Silver Sisters book nine. So I will be finishing up that series. I am not a meant to be a long series writer. I don't I get distracted, I go off in other directions, and then I leave things hanging, and people are begging me, but I love the series. Would you do more? Would you do more? And I love that, and I think that's great. And your people are wonderful, and you know, my readers are the best, they're the absolute best. I can't do any more. We're done. So I'm I'm I'm going to give the sisters the ending that they deserve. And, you know, and then I'm going to be moving on. But one of the things that I'm really excited about that I'm working on right now is I just started a program on my Patreon called Letters from the Astral Plane. And what this is, is actual physical mail for you know, people who sign up for the highest tier, but there's also like an archive, a digital archive for anybody that doesn't necessarily want the physical artifact. But it's the lost letters between characters in my series that never got sent, never got found. So it's where the secrets are being revealed. So, for example, in Midlife Bed and Broomstick, right? Um, my main character is coming back to this little beachfront community that is full of shifters and witches, but she doesn't know anything about shifters and witches. She's like a regular old girl.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And so, in order to protect her, her, you know, then lover at the time, you know, pretty much like staged a I'm cheating on you kind of thing and sent her away, and she's upset. So, but then she was pregnant. Secret baby again. You know what I'm saying? She comes back with their now grown son, who is just about to undergo his first shift. Oh. But one of the letters that I'm planning is going to be between these two characters where she's pretty much trying to put it on paper. How she tells him that, yeah, we got a baby, we had a kid. So, but it's like all of like that heartfelt emotion that happened, the action that happened before the book. So, this is something I wanted to do for a while, is just to kind of explore things that happened off the page. Right. So that's gonna be my letters. That's so I'm doing that on my Patreon. It's called the archive, so it's pretty much where all of my magical PWF stuff is going on. And over on Substack, I just started something with my audiobooks because I have 50, I think, audiobooks. Wow. Yeah, I've been doing this for wow. Yeah, I've been I've been doing this for about 12 years with audio, and they're all like human narrated, they're all you know classic. So what I'm doing over there is I'm actually releasing episodes as a podcast. Okay. I'm doing like three episodes a week, so it's like chapters one through three one week. So I'm going back, so I'm calling that um Mysteries with Heart the Audio Files because these are the audio files. So like uh I have like the entry level tier gives you like the weekly podcast, and then the um the page here you actually get some of those uh other archive audiobooks, like as direct downloads. So I have you know, uh I have standalones that I have on there. I have some and you know, just like little letters about where these things came from and why I wrote these, you know, on my you know, beginning author journey. But um, yeah, so I'm really excited about like those kind of things because I just I want to connect more with my audience and not necessarily chart.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's great. I love that. That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_03

Where can people find you, Jennifer? Where can you find me? So I am on Instagram, author.genifer.l. And I am on Facebook, and I am on uh Substack, I mentioned Patreon mentioned my author website, authorjenifer allheart.com. You can find me there.

SPEAKER_00

You have your own shop, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03

I do have my own shop, the Pages and Potions workshop. So that's where I spell all of my wares. Love it.

SPEAKER_01

I love your little logo. Don't or like don't drink and spell the little glass. That's super cute.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. This has been like super fun.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, this has been such a pleasure. Um I bought two of your books during this interview, just because that's how I roll. I like to interview and shop at the same time.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, yeah, it's true she does. This is so awesome. It was really fun to like have a longer chat with you. Yeah. Thanks for coming. We'll definitely have you back. So keep us posted on like whenever you have something that you want to like talk about or whatever, and we can get you on the pod.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. That sounds good.

SPEAKER_00

We love having uh people come back. Yes, we do. Thank you, beauty. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Bye. So that was a great chat with Jennifer. I mean, she is amazing. I love her. So fun. So fun. I I I mean we always have fun. I mean, we do. Every every guest we've had has been just amazing. And we always enjoy talking to them and checking out what they're doing and and and having them share with us, you know, some of their thoughts. It's it's awesome. So um well now it's time to pull an Oracle O tarot card for the day.

SPEAKER_01

So I'm pulling today from my Oracle deck called The Rooted Woman. And this is probably one of my favorite decks. And I'm showing the cover right now, but if you're not watching on YouTube, um the the cover of the the decks is a dryad woman. Um and she's got her arms spread up and her branches, like hair, and she's mossy, and she's just she looks a little older and like so at peace.

SPEAKER_00

It's kind of got a weeping willow vibe.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, a very weeping willow vibe, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And it's blue in the background. Is it blue or is it purple? Purple.

SPEAKER_01

Purple, it matches my cocktail.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. And then the gold lettering. Ah, that foil. I love foil lettering. So pretty.

SPEAKER_01

Um and then the actual cardbacks are this um woman with like just kind of looking down, her eyes are closed, she's got braided hair, and like some very bright garlandy firefly stars in her hair. That's lovely. So this is one of my favorite decks, and it's a guided oracle where there's three different paths. So depending on how specific you want to get with what you're pulling for this deck, you can pull one from each of the paths. And I'll do that sometimes because there's three suits. It's called, I just want to make sure I'm not telling yourself telling you all something wrong. Um, there's places, okay, there's allies, and then there's the journey. And so you can pull one like where am I going, who's gonna be with me, and what kind of a journey is this gonna be. Um but for today I'm just gonna pull one card and look at the basic meaning of it instead of doing a whole big thing. Right. But I'm thinking probably um if you want to head over to our YouTube shorts, I'll do um a full reading with this deck that you'll be able to watch on the shorts.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that'd be super cool.

SPEAKER_01

And this deck is shuffled, so I am just gonna cut and draw. And so I have a place and it's island. Boundedness and isolation, it says. And it's got this whale kind of breaching, and he's all alone in the background of the ocean. There's just a mountain kind of rising up there, just a peak. An island can represent many ways of being in the world. It can be a source of safety and security, or it can represent exile and isolation. Sometimes it can recognize represent both. And sometimes, in order to feel safe, we exile ourselves from the things we formerly knew and loved. We separate from the world and make of ourselves an island. Sometimes this is positive. It's a necessary withdrawal. Sometimes withdrawal is in is forced upon us, perhaps because we can't accommodate the world as we know it. All edges are transitional places, and the greatest edges of all are the places where land meets sea. These edges might seem gentle on a still summer's day when the sun warms the shallows and the soft sand cradles you, but to inhabit an island you must be able to face the storm. Its edges might seem to define an island on a map, but from the island's perspective, its edges aren't always strictly defined. They shift with weather and with the tides. Like the sea on an island beach, we too add in flow. We soften sometimes, then retreat into the safety of our own world. This card reminds us to ponder that mystery and never resist the natural flow.

SPEAKER_00

We talked about that a little bit, not resisting uh the energy of of Aries and letting it out. But that I mean that's so true because if you're an introvert, you very much know about the protection and safety of being of that island. Withdrawing there to regain your energy before rejoining the world. Uh but that that's interesting. Yeah. I love this deck.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, head on over to our shorts. I think I'll have a I'll give you a full reading based on like the Aries energy. I love that that we just walked into.

SPEAKER_00

I love that. I mean, I see, I can already see my path. Place is Portugal, Amy's the person, the journey's gonna be fabulous. I mean I'm not sure. Fabulous is one of the actual cards, but I'm sure there's one that means that. So where can they find the deck, the books? Uh um Jennifer stuff. Jennifer stuff, the Oracle deck, all that stuff. Uh where can they find that? Written in the stars.

SPEAKER_01

But also in the show notes.

SPEAKER_00

But also in the show notes. Thank you guys for joining us today, folks. And this this podcast is once again brought to you by Shannon Amy's Books and also the Captain Coven. And also Paranormal Women's Fiction Book Club. Did you know? Yes. Yeah. We have a sponsor. We have a sponsor of a sort. I mean, she she advertises for us. So if you guys want a free book every month, sorry, and by guys, I want to be really clear when that slips out. It it is a I'm trying to change my language, but it still slips out, and I mean that in a gender-neutral everybody manner. It is not I believe here Malta might be hey y'all, malta. Malta? Okay. Gonna have to integrate Portuguese. Malta. Yeah. Hey y'all folks. That's what I mean.

SPEAKER_01

Um I do y'all a lot. I do y'all. If I get real excited, I'll do an all y'all.

unknown

All y'all.

SPEAKER_01

Um but in European Portuguese, Malta is in common in informal term referring to a group of peers, friends, people in general, equivalent to English slang like guys, folks, peeps, crew, gang.

SPEAKER_00

Excellent. An M-U-L-T.

SPEAKER_01

Oi Malta is hey guys.

SPEAKER_00

Is it M-A-L-M-U-L-T-A? Malta? M-A-L-T-A. Malta. Malta Malta. Oh, like Malta.

SPEAKER_01

Oi Malta.

SPEAKER_00

Malta. Malta. I like it. Malta. Malta.

SPEAKER_01

You'd say oi malta. Hey guys.

SPEAKER_00

Oi Malta. Oi Malta. I'm turning Portuguese already.

SPEAKER_01

Apologize for our um sense. Yes. Check the show notes.

SPEAKER_00

Check the show notes for sure. And um, yes, and if you want a free paranormal, uh typically paranormal women's fiction, but there's some paranormal romance and paranormal cozy mysteries, every month, one free book every month, go to the paranormal women's fiction bookclub.com and sign up. Yes, and then like, subscribe, share, review, rate. And all that jazz. Subscribe, please subscribe. And share. Like, if you don't have any if you don't want to share it to your friends, share it to your enemies. We'll take them too.

SPEAKER_01

I thought you were gonna say if you don't have any friends.

SPEAKER_00

I was. And then I was like, that's a little rude. We're your friends now. We are your friends. But not in a threatening way. I mean, it depends on how they view us, really, whether that's a threat or not. They watched to the end, they must like us a little bit. They must like us a little bit. So we're your friends. We support you. We love you. We're so glad you're here. And we would appreciate if you loved us and shared us today. We'll see you next time.

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Amy Cissell

Host
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Shéa MacLeod

Host